Rabbi Yoel Teitelbaum, Grand Rabbi of Satmar (1887-1979)

I remember fifty or sixty years ago, many gedolei yisroel said that after all the Zionists did to undermine Jewish-gentile relations, it would be a miracle if destruction did not come upon the Jews of Europe. And today we know that the accursed murderers, yimach shmam, said that Herzl's book was what aroused them against the Jews. And now, after the Kastner Trial, we know the role the Zionists played in the destruction of Hungarian Jewry in particular. There is no need to speak at length on these well-known facts.

And today they continue in their evil ways, provoking the countries in which Jews live to anger against the Jews. For example, the voice of our brethren in Morocco cries out to us! They write us letters saying that they once lived under a kind government and were lacking nothing, until the Zionists came and made an upheaval, bringing danger upon all the Jews. The Torah commands us not to stand idle while our neighbor bleeds! Yet everyone is silent. If people would only open their eyes they would see that in America as well, they are doing everything they can to increase anti-Semitism, as they once did in the European countries. The Jewish people needs Heavenly mercy that they should not succeed.

And needless to say, the low spiritual state of the Jewish people is also thanks to them. True, most American Jews are not religious, but that is due to ignorance and assimilation. They are not out to fight Judaism. But the Zionists have created a factory of heresy, from which they spread denial of the Torah to the whole world. Look at the tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of Jews that they worked hard to brainwash into believing complete kefirah. Yet the Orthodox Jewish world is tolerant of them. And not only that, they lift them up as leaders. Where are the rabbinic leaders who will raise their voices in protest against this insult to Hashem?

It is a serious danger to the Jewish people if we point to those who do not keep the Torah and deny Hashem and call them the leaders of the Jewish people. All the nations are thereby misled to think that they speak in the name of Jewry, and thus they are transformed into anti-Semites. And really, if it were possible, even at the risk of our lives, to let the nations of the world know that these wicked men are not the representatives of the Jewish people, and that observant Jews have no connection with them, it would be one of the biggest mitzvos to do so. We would have to risk our lives to do it. But unfortunately, the rabbis are afraid of the people, and if there are any of them who do say something publicly against the Zionists, the chareidi leaders fight against him and defend the Zionists with various excuses.(Kinus Haklali, 1961, printed in Divrei Yoel Naso p. 128-9)

I heard that the religious Zionists announced that this war [of 1967] was necessary and obligatory according to Torah [in order to save the Jewish people from danger]. But it is obvious and known to all who see truth that all these troubles, including the danger of the war, came upon us only as a result of the existence of that Zionist state…it is the Zionist government that aroused the anger of the Arabs by provoking them in various ways, and if not for the stubbornness of its wicked leaders the danger of the war would never have been. And even now, if they were to give up their state and their government, there is no doubt that they would take Hashem’s anger away from the Jewish people. Had they done this, the entire calamity – the danger of the war and the loss of Jewish lives – would not have come upon them. And for every minute that they hold on to their power they are offending the Creator, blessed be He, with violation of the oaths and rebellion against the nations, which the holy Torah has forbidden and for which we have been warned of a severe punishment… And even naturally speaking, if they were to give up their government and Zionist state, there is no doubt that the United Nations would be able to find some way to prevent war, bloodshed and loss of Jewish lives.” (Al Hageulah V’al Hatemurah, Chapter 44)

In my youth I heard an important rabbi offer a fitting parable about the Zionists: Once there was an evil and cruel man who was vengeful and constantly on alert. He wanted to take revenge against his friend, and burn all his and wealth and possessions. So he hired a second wicked person who was an expert in these sorts of operations to do his task in such a way that the victim would not even notice that it was he who had committed this act. Since the hired criminal knew that his victim often welcomed guests into his home, he went to the victim’s home in the evening disguised as a guest and asked for a place to spend the night. The unwitting victim welcomed him in immediately and gave him a room for the night. In the middle of the night the wicked man observed that the householder and his family members were all asleep and that they would not notice anything. He silently set about to start a fire in a hidden area and then quickly returned to his room and pretended to be asleep.

The flames soon became noticeable and awakened the entire household in great panic; everyone soon realized that everything was on fire, but due to their confusion, panic and sorrow, the members of the family could not properly decide how to save their property. In order to avoid suspicion the wicked guest, who had caused the fire, pretended to wake up in great panic and rushed to the aid of the householder, who noticed that the guest was able to calmly do a good job to save more furniture and household objects than the householder himself.

The following morning, when the householder went to the synagogue with a heavy and bitter spirit, he told his friends about the terrible calamity that had befallen him. He explained that he was now left impoverished and destitute, and that he had no idea where to look for a new home and livelihood. While telling the story he mentioned the importance of the commandment of welcoming guests, because the guest he had invited into his home had helped save what little could be rescued from the fire in his home. The victim of the arsonist was asked by his friends to identify the guest. He described him, and they immediately recognized him as a very cruel and wicked man who was renowned for these sorts of deeds.

His friends mocked him and told him to watch himself, because were it not for that “guest,” there would have been no fire at all. The “guest” was actually an arsonist who had set fire to the house, and was no savior at all. They added that the householder should never again allow that evildoer to cross his threshold, for if he should ever again have anything to do with that evildoer, his tricks would be even worse, and could result in the death of the householder altogether, G-d forbid.

The lesson of this parable is obvious: through their sins and their deeds the Zionists are the cause of all troubles and sufferings, yet they always come around to brag that they are the saviors when they are actually the arsonists! Those that do not wish to seek the truth fall for the ruse and think that they are saviors. Satan blinds their eyes so that they end up in heresy and atheism, G-d forbid. By analyzing all the activities of the Zionists one can easily discover that their acts are utter destruction and no salvation. It would require a book specifically dedicated to this subject, and I have already written that in this book I do not wish to get into this history, only to shed light on the matter. G-d will guide those who seek the truth.

This is the last challenge of the Jewish exile, the hardest challenge the Jewish people have ever faced. Regarding these tribulations prior to the arrival of the messiah, Rabbi Yochanan said, “Let him come, but let me not see it.” (Talmud, Tractate Sanhedrin 98b) The sufferer cannot tolerate any more suffering, and now we need the mercy of G-d to strengthen our true faith in G-d, His holy Torah and His servants who have served Him with all their hearts and souls in the generations before us. (Vayoel Moshe 1:111)